Police investigating credit card breaches
Lieutenant gives tips on protecting information
Police are trying to determine if several credit card breaches among Wadsworth residents are connected. Photo by EMILY CANNING-DEAN
WADSWORTH – Police are working to investigate several cases of credit card cloning among Wadsworth residents.
At least half a dozen Wadsworth residents recently reported that their credit card information had been cloned and used to make purchases in other states. The purchases took place most commonly in Michigan, but also happened in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Arizona.
Lt. Dave Dorland said these incidents took place several weeks to a couple of months ago.
“They were documented recently by the detective working on the case,” he said.
At this point, the department is not sure what source caused the credit card breaches. One option is a common point of purchase where a business does not have adequate software or network protection and someone has hacked into their system.
“We had a case like this years ago involving a local business, but there does not appear to be a common point of purchase among the victims this time,” he said. “There could be a skimmer at a merchant, which captures the credit card information as they are used, but we would expect to see a lot more victims if there was a skimmer located in Wadsworth. Plus, there was no common point of purchase among the victims.”
Another option is a simple theft of credit cards or credit card information. Dorland said the victims are all in possession of their actual credit cards and said none of them believe anyone manually recorded the information from their accounts.
“It is possible that all of these victims had their credit card information stolen in different ways and/or different locations, including while they were traveling to a different country,” Dorland said. “We do have a couple of leads and we are working with some other departments to get more information on persons of interest.”
Dorland advises consumers to protect themselves by monitoring their bank accounts on a regular basis and notify their financial institutions immediately if they notice any irregularities. He also recommended signing up for account activity alerts if it is available. He also recommends utilizing chip cards if the bank offers them and also using chip readers at businesses when they are available. He also recommends regularly checking credit reports.
If traveling to another country, Dorland recommends individuals don’t use a credit card attached to their bank account.
“This way, if your card information is compromised, the immediate loss will be to the credit card company and you will not have to wait to get reimbursed for money missing from your personal bank account,” he said. “If your credit card information has been stolen, report the theft to your local police if your financial institution requires it or if you learn the card was used at a business in the area. A lot of the time, with cloned cards, they are used in other parts of the country or online, which police are rarely able to successfully investigate. However, if it is used relatively locally, then we are better able to obtain the information we need to pursue an investigation.”
At least half a dozen Wadsworth residents recently reported that their credit card information had been cloned and used to make purchases in other states. The purchases took place most commonly in Michigan, but also happened in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Arizona.
Lt. Dave Dorland said these incidents took place several weeks to a couple of months ago.
“They were documented recently by the detective working on the case,” he said.
At this point, the department is not sure what source caused the credit card breaches. One option is a common point of purchase where a business does not have adequate software or network protection and someone has hacked into their system.
“We had a case like this years ago involving a local business, but there does not appear to be a common point of purchase among the victims this time,” he said. “There could be a skimmer at a merchant, which captures the credit card information as they are used, but we would expect to see a lot more victims if there was a skimmer located in Wadsworth. Plus, there was no common point of purchase among the victims.”
Another option is a simple theft of credit cards or credit card information. Dorland said the victims are all in possession of their actual credit cards and said none of them believe anyone manually recorded the information from their accounts.
“It is possible that all of these victims had their credit card information stolen in different ways and/or different locations, including while they were traveling to a different country,” Dorland said. “We do have a couple of leads and we are working with some other departments to get more information on persons of interest.”
Dorland advises consumers to protect themselves by monitoring their bank accounts on a regular basis and notify their financial institutions immediately if they notice any irregularities. He also recommended signing up for account activity alerts if it is available. He also recommends utilizing chip cards if the bank offers them and also using chip readers at businesses when they are available. He also recommends regularly checking credit reports.
If traveling to another country, Dorland recommends individuals don’t use a credit card attached to their bank account.
“This way, if your card information is compromised, the immediate loss will be to the credit card company and you will not have to wait to get reimbursed for money missing from your personal bank account,” he said. “If your credit card information has been stolen, report the theft to your local police if your financial institution requires it or if you learn the card was used at a business in the area. A lot of the time, with cloned cards, they are used in other parts of the country or online, which police are rarely able to successfully investigate. However, if it is used relatively locally, then we are better able to obtain the information we need to pursue an investigation.”
